Head positioner



Sept. 8, 1959 R. M. MINNICH 2,903,588

HEAD POSITIONER Filed March 10, .1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 RALPH M. M/NN/C H BY any? Sept. 8, 1959 R. M. MINNICH 2,903,588

- HEAD POSITIONER File d March 10, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. RALPH M. M/NN/CH BY F a A TTOP/VEVS United States Patent HEAD POSITIONER Ralph M. Minnich, San Jose, Calif.

Application March '10, 1958, Serial No. 720,165

3 Claims. (Cl. 250-64) The present invention relates to head positioners for use in X-ray photography for orthodontic purposes and the like and is concerned more particularly with a head positioner of a simple construction which provides for accurate relocation of the head of a patient at intervals during his treatment so that the X-ray pictures can be easily superimposed to measure the progress of the treatment.

'In the practice of orthodontia, X-rays of the head taken transverse to the face and with the head located in a definite position are used to study the skeletal structure and to determine the type of treatment and the amount of movement of the teeth which will be possible in a given case. To provide successive X-ray photographs at different periods of the treatment, it is necessary that the head of the patient be located in the same fixed position each time that the X-ray film be located in the same fixed position relative to the patient, and to the camera. In this way the locating points of the skeletal structure can be readily determined from each X-ray and the picture can be studied and compared as the position of the teeth change during treatment.

It is also desirable to provide a head positioner which can be easily located in a desired position in practically any physical arrangement of an ofiice. For example it may be desirable to have the X-ray machine taking its pictures parallel to a wall, or it may be desirable to have the X-ray machine taking its picture facing the wall with the patient closely adjacent thereto. In other instances it may be desirable to have the equipment in the center of a room and to mount the head positioner by means of a depending post from the ceiling or a standing post from the floor.

The head positioner of the present invention accomplishes these purposes and accordingly is a general object of the invention to provide an improved, simple reliable head positioner.

A further object of the invention is to provide a head positioner in which the cassette is located readily in fixed position With respect to the head and in which the adjustment of the positioner to different sizes of heads does not affect the positioning of the cassette relative to the head.

A further object to the invention is to provide a head positioner in which the adjustments to be made can be changed in location to facilitate its use in different operative positions.

The above and other objects of the invention are obtained as described in the accompanying specification, taken in connection with the attached drawings, in which:

Figure l is an elevational view of the head positioner in use showing the head located with reference to the Xray camera.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary plan view of the head positioner shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken as indicated by the line 3-3 in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the head positioner as mounted in a different relation to the wall so that the Patented Sept. 8, 1959 picture is taken at right angles to the wall rather than parallel thereto, and with the adjusting knob for one of the head positioner members in a different location.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional View taken in the plane indicated by the line 55 in Figure 4.

Referring to the drawings the head positioner 10 is shown as mounted by the bracket 11 in relation to an X-ray camera 9 having the center axis 8 of the X-ray become passing through the head of the child in alignment with the apertures of its ears to impinge upon the photographic film carried by the cassette 46. The supporting bracket 11 includes a base 12 which may be secured by suitable screws to a supporting surface 13 such as a wall, and at the outer end of the bracket, which is in rod form, there is a boss '14 having an aperture in which a support rod 17 for the head positioner is mounted and secured in adjusted position by clamping screw 16.

The head positioner 10 (Figs. 1 and 2) includes a support bar or rack member 26 secured to the rod 17 and provided an enlarged end having a boss 27, later referred to. Depending from the rack member or support bar 26 are a pair of depending head positioning members 18 and 18a, the member 18 being fixed to the rack member 26, and the member 18a being slidably adjustable with respect thereto. For this purpose the adjustable member 18a depends from a square mounting block 18 having an elongated boss or sleeve 37 with a rectangular hole therethrough slidably engaged with the bar 26. The teeth 36 of the rack bar 26 are adapted to be engaged by the teeth 41 of a gear formed between two journaling portions of a shaft 42 rotatably mounted in the aperture 39 in the block 38. The gear member 42 has an operating handle 44. Also the block 38 has a threaded aperture to receive a clamping screw 43 which engages the top of the rack 26 to clamp it securely in adjusted position. By sliding the block 38 beyond the end of the rack bar 26 the gear is disengaged from the teeth 36, and the shaft 42 can be reversed in position with respect to the location of the knob 44 to obtain the most convenient position.

The head positioning members 18 and 18a have at their lower ends respective extentions 19 and 19a of material which is relatively transparent to X-rays, such as Lucite, for example, and have secured therein inwardly extending ear engaging locator pins or dowels 21 and 21a. Preferably one of these pins 21a (Figure 5) has a metallic insert 22 in its mounting hole so as to provide a pin which is in efiect opaque to X-rays and which will provide an indication on the film in the cassette 46 of the actual location of the ear holes of the child.

The fixed head locating or positioning member 18 and its extension 19 form part of a cassette mounting arrangement which places the X-ray film in a definite spacing with reference to the head of the patient which will be the same at any time during the treatment of the patient that the X-rays are taken. At the same time the cassette holding means provides for adjustment of the cassette vertically and laterally so as to be in proper position to get the desired portion of the skeleton on the X-ray film. This cassette mounting means includes a support bar 29 slidably engaged in the boss 27 of the rack bar 26 and adapted to be clamped in a selected adjusted position by a clamping screw 28 threaded in the boss 27 and engaging the bar 29. At the lower end of the bar 29 there is secured thereto a cassette support plate 31 having upturned cars 32 and 33 in spaced apart relation, the ears 32 being in alignment with the rod 18 so as to form therewith a positioning surface for the eassette 46. To hold the cassette releasably in its mounting means a bent leaf spring #34 is provided on the bar 29 to urge the cassette against the locating surface of the head positioning bar 18.

In use of the head positioner, the patient is seated or placed in the desired location with reference to the X-ray camera 9, and the head positioner is adjusted vertically by sliding the suporting rod 17 in the boss 14 and locking it with the set screw 16 so that the locator pins. or dowels 21 are in exact alignment with the ear and can be inserted therein. The dowel 21 is used for the initial adjustment. Subsequently the pin 21a is brought into position by operation of the adjusting knob 44 to move the adjustable head positioning member 18a on the rack bar 26 until the pin 21a is properly located. This places the head in the desired position so that this position can be repeated at any subsequent time in the treatment of the patient and place the patients head in the same relation to the X-ray film carried by the eassette 46.

While I have shown and described a preferred form of the invention, it is apparent the invention is capable of variation and modification from the form shown, so that the scope thereof should be limited only by the proper scope of the claims appended hereto.

I claim:

1. A head positioner for use in taking X-ray pictures of the head of a patient which comprises a mounting bracket for attachment to a supporting surface, a support member slidably engaging said mounting bracket and adapted to be clamped thereto, a frame bar connectedto said supporting member and having a fixed depending head positioning member secured thereto, a second adjustable depending head positioning member secured to' said bar, in spaced relation from said fixed member, a rack on said bar, said adjustable member having a transversely apertured boss, a gear journaled in said boss, locking means for securing said adjustable member to said bar, the lower ends of said members having respective inwardly projecting ear engaging pins for positioning the head of a person with respect to the head positioner in a definite relation thereto, said bar having an apertured boss extending parallel to said depending members, a support member slidably and non-rotatably mounted in said boss of said bar and carrying at the bottom a cassette supporting plate to position the cassette against said fixed head positioning member as a part of the cassette support, said support member also including means for urging said cassette against said fixed head positioning member.

2. A head positioner as recited in claim 1 in which said head positioning members have the lower portions thereof of a material substantially transparent to X-rays, and said ear engaging pins each having a portion opaque to X-rays to provide an indication of the location of the ear opening when the X-ray was taken.

3. A head posi-tioner as recited in claim 1 in which said gear is removably positioned in the related boss to be inserted therein from either side.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,264,410 Schier Dec. 2, 1941 2,532,967 Thompson .i Dec. 5, 1950 2,684,446 Paatero July 20, 1954 2,717,314 Delk Sept. 6, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 898,793 Germany Dec. 3, 1953 

